Members of the House and Senate regularly point to the private sector as a model for improving government efficiency. But few businesses would be successful if they had to operate under the adverse conditions created by Congress.

Five months into fiscal 2011, federal agencies are now operating under their third short-term funding bill. Congress just set a Mar. 18 deadline to avert a government shutdown and reach a final compromise for the rest of the year. If the contentious funding issues are resolved, agencies are likely to face significant, but still unknown, cutbacks for this year as well as the likelihood of big reductions in 2012.

With so many uncertainties, government agencies have been unable to engage in sound financial planning or even make rational program, policy and management decisions for the short or long term. Some have delayed filling critical vacancies; many are struggling to avoid customer service backlogs, and others have stopped signing new contracts or renewing existing ones that could save the government money.

The continued reliance on temporary funding measures and the creation of a crisis atmosphere with repeated threats of a shutdown is not a responsible or a smart way to govern.

The last government shutdown in 1995 and 1996 ran 27 days and cost an estimated $1.4 billion — hardly a way to reduce the deficit or prudently manage a huge, complex and crucial enterprise.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees were considered “nonessential” and told not to come to work — but eventually received retroactive pay. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ceased disease surveillance, toxic waste clean-up work stopped at 609 sites, delinquent child support cases were delayed, 368 National Park Service locations were closed, 200,000 passport applications were not processed, 5,200 small businesses were delayed in receiving Small Business Administration financing and multiple services for veterans were curtailed.

Another shutdown will likely mean that the American people will lose important services, tax dollars will be wasted, government efficiency will suffer and ultimately, public confidence will be further eroded.

Even without a shutdown, the repeated stopgap funding resolutions have taken a toll on federal agencies, creating unpredictability, hampering workforce productivity and potentially harming the nation.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, for example, has warned that the temporary funding measures are threatening military readiness, leaving the Pentagon short of money for operations and maintenance. Gates told reporters in January that the uncertain funding threatens the “security of the country.”

The Internal Revenue Service has pointed to problems caused by Congress’s failure to approve a permanent 2011 appropriations bill — including the delay in upgrading its electronic data systems designed to bring in extra revenue and speed refunds to taxpayers.

Last year, in the wake of the heart-stopping stock market and housing market meltdowns, Congress took steps to better regulate Wall Street. Now, the Security and Exchange Commission has said that operating under the temporary funding bill has forced it to delay or cut back on enforcement and oversight.

Unfortunately, use of temporary spending measures has become the norm rather than the exception. Stopgap funding has occurred in one form or another in all but three years between 1952 and 2010, according to the Congressional Research Service.

Deep ideological differences about the size and role of government have been at the center of the current debate — as well as part of past battles. Meanwhile, Congress has repeatedly failed to meet one of its prime responsibilities: to fund the government in a timely fashion and ensure the public welfare.

Hopefully, the House, Senate and Obama administration can avoid a government shutdown this month by reaching agreement to fund our government for the rest of fiscal 2011, and then, no matter how difficult, come to terms on a fiscal 2012 budget to avoid a repeat of the current situation.

But ultimately, it is up to Congress to fix a badly broken system and give federal leaders the opportunity to make more efficient use of taxpayer dollars — and become better stewards of the public trust.

Max Stier is president and chief executive officer of the Partnership for Public Service.